Surface printer servicing

Abstract

In an example, servicing of a surface printer may be performed at a job site. One or more service areas at a job site may be identified. One of the one or more service areas may be selected. The surface printer may travel to the selected service area. The surface printer may perform servicing at the selected service area.

Description

SURFACE PRINTER SERVICINGBACKGROUND

[0001] Surface printers may be used to print to a surface by depositing printing material to the surface. Various servicing routines may be performed by and on surface printers to ensure reliable printing. Servicing routines may include cleaning, maintenance, and calibration.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0002] Various non-limiting examples will be described with reference to the following accompanying drawings, in which:

[0003] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a surface printer according to an example;

[0004] FIGS. 2A-2C are conceptual drawings illustrating layers corresponding to a print job according to an example;

[0005] FIGS. 3A-3B are conceptual drawings illustrating layers corresponding to a print job according to an example;

[0006] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating performing servicing according to an example;

[0007] FIG. 5 is a conceptual drawing illustrating routes to servicing areas according to an example;

[0008] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a computer program product according to an example.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0009] In general, this disclosure described various techniques for servicing of a surface printer. In one example, according to the techniques herein, servicing may be performed with minimal user intervention and at various types of job sites. In one example, service areas may be defined and a service area may be selected based on servicing to be performed and / or a route to a service area.

[0010] Surface printers may include various types of printers for printing to a surface. Surface printers may include autonomous vehicles that print images such as lines and symbols on surfaces (i.e. , a substrate) for applications such asconstruction and street marking. For example, such an autonomous vehicle may be referred to as a surface marking robot and may receive a floor plan and print a layout for building construction on a floor. For example, a surface printer may print elements, such as, lines, text, dashed-lines, curved lines, circumferences, points, etc., which correspond to layouts of interior walls, mechanical structures, electrical wiring, plumbing, fire protection structures, HVAC systems, or the like. Flooring materials on which a layout may be printed may include porous surfaces, such as, for example, polished and rough concrete, tarmac, and wood and non- porous surfaces, such as, for example, terrazzo, vinyl, and epoxy. Various printing fluids may be utilized. For example, a surface printer may utilize an ink type which may be permanent or semi-permanent and water-based or solvent based.

[0011] In a construction application, it may be useful to utilize different points, text, and line types during printing. For example, it may be useful to print a relatively wide line having a specific color for an exterior wall layout and print a relatively narrow line having another specific color for an interior layout. Some applications may have a relatively high print quality, which may use smaller drops, and / or may utilize relatively complex inks. Examples of relatively complex inks may include inks having relatively higher density and / or opacity, pigmented inks, fluorescent inks, and / or relatively stickier inks. Relatively complex inks may be utilized for printing to specific types of surfaces and / or for specific printing applications (e.g., printing white inks on a dark surface).

[0012] During the performance of a print job, a surface printer may be in a state where it is not printing in an optimal manner. For example, nozzles of a printhead may be clogged (e.g., due to debris at a construction site or dried ink) and not properly depositing printing fluid to a surface in a manner which provides an acceptable print quality. Relatively high print quality requirements and the utilization of relatively complex inks may increase the frequency at which servicing routines should (or are appropriate or necessary to) be performed on a surface printer. Thus, it may be assumed that at some point during the execution of a print job, a surface printer should have a servicing routine (which may be referred to as a service routine or simply servicing in some cases) be performed.

[0013] As described above, some applications may have a relatively high print quality and may utilize relatively complex inks. Having a relatively high print quality and / or the use of relatively complex inks may increase maintenance demands. For example, the frequency at which servicing should be performed to maintain a particular print quality may be based on print quality and / or ink type. Also, using lower drop weights may provide an enhancement in print quality, but may also increase the servicing frequency to maintain the print quality. Similarly, using more complex inks may enable particular printing applications (e.g., white inks on specific surfaces), but may also increase servicing.

[0014] A surface printer may be designed such that it does not include hardware to ensure printhead reliability (e.g., spittoons to refresh nozzles, wipers to clean printheads, primers for hard recoveries, sensors to check nozzles, etc.) that may be included in other types of printers. Such design considerations may increase the likelihood that the printhead of a surface printer is in a condition where it is not printing in an optimal manner during the execution of a print job. Further, different design considerations of a surface printer may provide different maintenance demands. For example, some printheads may include an autocapping mechanism, which may improve nozzle reliability. However, other printheads may not include an auto-capping mechanism and as such, may require maintenance more frequently.

[0015] As described above, a surface printer may be used for various construction and marking applications and there may be various scenarios where performing servicing (e.g., a spitting routine) at a particular location of a job site may result in errors and / or clean up. In one example, according to the techniques herein, services areas within a job site may be defined. That is, for example, in one example, a user may identify areas in a layout where servicing routines are allowed to be performed. These areas may be referred to as service areas or serving areas. In one example, a service area may correspond to different types of servicing routines which may be performed at the service area. For example, a service area may be defined such that spitting to refresh nozzles and / or printing test patterns are permitted at the service area. Alternatively, or additional, the service area may correspond to an area which is located a sufficient distancefrom lines to be printed as part of the print job, such that performing spitting and / or printing a test pattern is unlikely to interfere with the print job. Further, in one example, a service area may correspond to an area where a protective material has been applied to a surface to enable clean-up or avoid stains. For example, a user may lay down a drop cloth at a particular location and define this location as a service area where spitting and / or printing a test pattern may be performed.

[0016] Further, in other examples, a service area could correspond to a location where a physical recovery station has been located. For example, a physical recovery station could include a station which enables the following types of servicing routines to be performed: printing fluid refill, printhead cleaning, wiping and priming a printhead, battery charging, sensor and / or motion control calibration, etc. In this case, the service area may be defined accordingly. That is, for example, performing spitting and / or printing a test pattern may not be allowed at a service area where a physical recovery station is located. Or, performing spitting and / or printing a test pattern may be allowed at a specific location within a service area where a physical recovery station is located.

[0017] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a surface printer according to an example. In Figure 1 , example surface printer 100 includes processor 102, memory 104, motion control system 106, position detection system 108, printing control system 110, printing system 1 12, sensors 114, user interface 116, calibration system 118, and communications system 120. Surface printer 100 may include a surface marking robot. In other examples, surface printer 100 may include other types of surface printers.

[0018] Although example surface printer 100 is illustrated as having distinct functional blocks, such an illustration is for descriptive purposes and does not limit surface printer 100 to a particular hardware or machine readable instruction architecture. Functions of surface printer 100 may be realized using any combination of hardware, and / or machine readable instruction implementations. In one example, surface printer 100 may include various chipsets connected via a system interface. For example, a system interface may include a chipset supporting PCI and PCIe bus protocols, proprietary bus protocols, Universal Serial Bus (USB) protocols, I2C, or a system interface may include any otherlogical and physical structure that may be used to interconnect peer devices, including chipsets.

[0019] Surface printer 100 may be self-propelled and apply printing material on a surface. In some examples, a surface printer may be propelled with user assistance. In some examples, surface printer 100 comprises a motor, for example an electric motor, and a source of energy such as a battery. Surfaces may include any of the example surfaces described above. Further, in some examples, a surface may include a field or turf. A surface may comprise holes or obstacles. A surface printer 100 may apply a printing fluid, for example, ink, to the surface while avoiding obstacles.

[0020] Processor 102 may implement functionality and / or process instructions for execution in surface printer 100. Processor 102 may include processing units(s) capable of retrieving and processing instructions, code, and / or data structures for implementing techniques described herein. Instructions may be stored on a computer readable medium, such as memory 104 or internal or external storage devices. Processor 102 may include digital signal processors (DSPs), general purpose microprocessors, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable logic arrays (FPGAs), or other equivalent integrated or discrete logic circuitry. Processor 102 may include multi-core central processing units.

[0021] Memory 104 may store information that may be used by surface printer 100 during operation. Memory 104 may be described as a non-transitory or tangible computer-readable storage medium. Memory 104 may include any type of memory device or storage medium capable of storing data. A storage medium may include tangible or non-transitory computer-readable media. Computer readable media may include optical discs, flash memory, magnetic memory, or any other suitable digital storage media. In some examples, a memory device or portions thereof may be described as non-volatile memory and in other examples portions of memory devices may be described as volatile memory. Examples of volatile memories may include random access memories (RAM), dynamic random access memories (DRAM), and static random access memories (SRAM). Examples of non-volatile memories may include magnetic hard discs, opticaldiscs, floppy discs, flash memories, or forms of electrically programmable memories (EPROM) or electrically erasable and programmable (EEPROM) memories. A device may store instructions in a suitable, non-transitory computer- readable medium and execute the instructions in hardware using processors.

[0022] Motion control system 106 may propel surface printer 100. In some examples, motion control system 106 may comprise wheels driven by a motor (e.g., an electric motor), or any suitable propulsion system. In some examples, motion control system 106 may comprise control circuitry to control a motor to drive wheels to control a direction and speed of surface printer 100. In some examples, motion control system 106 may include a microcontroller following a trajectory servo in communication with a propulsion system comprising motor driver electronics to supply force to a set of wheels. In some examples, motion control system 106 may also comprise a processor to receive and execute instructions defining an intended path or trajectory for surface printer 100 to follow.

[0023] Position detection system 108 may enable a position of surface printer 100 to be detected. For example, position detection system 108 may receive a guiding system signal, which may be used to detect a position of surface printer 100. For example, surface printer 100 may be guided using a remote guiding system. A guiding system may permit guiding the surface printer 100 from a reference point corresponding to the location of the guiding system. A guiding system may communicate guiding system position information with the surface printer 100 using electromagnetic waves or radiation. Guiding system position information may provide the location of the guiding system, such that the guiding system may be used as a reference point (or beacon) to calculate or estimate an absolute position of surface printer 100. Example guiding systems can include a Wi-Fi access point, an ultrasound beacon, a total station, a laser tracker or an interferometer. In some examples, a guiding system may be an optical guiding system. In this case, the communication between the guiding system and surface printer 100 may take place, for example, through visible or infrared light. For example, position detection system 108 may include a reflector to reflect a measuring beam to a source. In some examples, a guiding system may includea Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver providing an absolute position of the guiding system.

[0024] Position detection system 108 may for example, receive information from sensors 114. Sensors 114 may include sensors for use with position detection system 108, as well as additional sensors described in detail below. Sensors for use with position detection system 108 may include any kind of suitable position sensor, such as, for example, rotary encoders located on wheels of surface printer 100, a camera located on the body of surface printer 100, a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) system, an inertial mechanical unit to sense accelerations and direction, a combination including at least some of the previously-mentioned position sensors, or any other suitable kind of position sensor. In some examples, position detection system 108 may compare information from sensors 114 with a servo path to detect deviations. For example, accelerations in an axis other than that defined by the servo path can indicate that surface printer 100 is not following the defined servo path. In some examples, a determination that rotary encoders on the wheels are not increasing steadily can provide an indication that surface printer 100 has deviated from the defined path.

[0025] In some examples, position detection system 108 and / or motion control system 106 may calculate a magnitude and direction of the difference between the current position of surface printer 100 and an intended path and may correct the path accordingly. That is, motion control system 106 and position detection system 108 may operate in conjunction to cause surface printer 100 to traverse an intended path. In some examples, position detection system 108 may comprise processing circuitry to calculate whether a detected position matches an intended path and cause motion control system 106 to make adjustments.

[0026] Printing control system 110 and printing system 112 may cause a representation of an image to be printed by surface printer 100. For example, in one example, printing control system 110 may receive print job commands and / or data corresponding to a print job (e.g., image data) and generate print data such that a print job is executed. In some examples, printing control system 110 may reproduce print data from received data. In some examples, the received data itself may already correspond to print data. In other examples, print data may bedynamically generated during printing of a print job. Further, print data may also be stored from the outset in a memory and printing control system 110 may then dynamically access the print data during execution of a print job.

[0027] Printing system 112 may cause printing material to be deposited. For example, printing system 112 may include a printhead, where a printhead comprises a die forming a plurality of nozzles. A printhead may be included, for example, in a carriage including a plurality printheads or a fixed printhead array. The nozzles may be aligned in columns along the length of a printhead. Nozzles may include micro valves. For example, a printhead carriage may comprise a plurality of inkjet printheads. A printing fluid, including, for example, ink or a modelling agent, may be ejected through the nozzles of the printhead. In this manner, printheads included in printing system 1 12 may deposit ink onto a surface, thereby printing an image corresponding to a print job. In other exam pies, printing system 112 may include a thermal or piezo-electric printhead. Further, ink is used herein as an example, and in other examples, other printing fluids, such as, pre-printing (e.g., cleaning fluid) and post-printing agents (e.g. varnishes, glosses, under-treatments) may alternatively be deposited. Printing system 112 may cause printing material to be deposited according to settings. In some examples, a printing system may include the following firing settings: aperture time, ink pressure, and drop spacing, which may be adjustable. In other examples, firing settings may include energy, voltage, pulse width, etc.

[0028] As described above, in some examples, printing control system 110 may receive data corresponding to a print job. In some examples, data corresponding to a print job may correspond to a floor plan. A floor plan may include a two- dimensional or three-dimensional representation of a structure such as, for example, a building. In some examples, a floor plan comprises floor plan features corresponding to objects or characteristics, such as, for example, walls, windows, doors, staircases, elevator cases, sinks, types of finish, construction methods, materials, electrical wiring, mechanical structures, plumbing, fire protection structures, HVAC systems, gas, or water supply features, etc. In some examples, a floor plan comprises features corresponding to traffic, parking, or road surface marking, aimed at pedestrians or vehicles.

[0029] In one example, a digital data file may comprise digital data associated with a floor plan or a job site. For example, an input file, or a raw input file, may include a digital representation of a drawing provided by a user, for example in a DXF (Drawing Exchange Format), DWG (DraWinG), or BIM (Building Information Modeling) format, which may include I FC (Industry Foundation Classes) and RVT (Revit) formats. In one example, an input file may be parsed in layers by surface printer 100, for example, for checking that relevant printing information is contained in the file. In one example, an input file may be processed by surface printer 100 to detect obstacles which may impact a trajectory or path to be followed by surface printer 100. In one example, an input file may be processed by surface printer 100 to sort and group clusters of graphical representations such as lines or text. In one example, an input file may be processed by surface printer 100 for path planning, for example in order to calculate an order in which graphical representation elements such as floor plan features may be printed, while avoiding obstacles and reducing a printing time. In one example, an input file may be processed by surface printer 100 for printing or marking for example by printing control system 110. In one example, an input file may be processed as described above by an external computing device (not illustrated) that is communicatively connected to surface printer 100 and be sent to surface printer 100.

[0030] Communications system 120 may enable surface printer 100 to communicate with external computing devices via networks. For example, communications system 120 may enable surface printer 100 to communicate with other computing devices connected to local area network and / or wide area network. Communications system 120 may be included as part of a network interface card and may include an optical transceiver, a radio frequency transceiver, or any other type of device that can send and receive information. Communications system 120 may operate according to communications protocols including for example, Global System Mobile Communications (GSM) standards, code division multiple access (CDMA) standards, 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards, European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) standards, Internet Protocol (IP) standards, Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) standards, and IEEE standards, such as, forexample, IEEE 802 standards (e.g., Wireless LAN, PAN, etc.). In one example, communications system 120 may enable surface printer 100 to receive an input file from an external computing device (e.g., a laptop computer or the like).

[0031] As described above, in some examples, surface printer 100 may be guided using a remote guiding system. In some examples, surface printer 100 may additionally be controlled using input received from a user via an external computing device in communication with surface printer 100. For example, input for controlling surface printer 100 may be generated from an input device, such as, for example, a touch-sensitive screen, a trackpad, a joystick, a mouse, or a keyboard. Input may include, for example, at least, input to control the movement of surface printer 100, input to modify printing settings, input to modify line properties, and input to modify additional controllable settings (e.g., maximum, minimum speed, etc.) Further, input may include input to trigger performance of a servicing routine. User interface 116 may include an input device and / or a basic user interface. For example, in one example, user interface 116 may include basic manual controls (e.g., Power ON / OFF buttons and / or switches) and basic status indicators (e.g., LED lights indicating power and / or operating states).

[0032] As described above, sensors 114 may include sensors for use with position detection system 108. Sensors 114 may further include collision avoidance and safety sensors. For example, LiDAR sensors may be used for collision avoidance and safety sensors may be used to detect cliffs or ledges to prevent surface printer 100 from falling during operation. Sensors 114 may additionally include sensors to measure environmental conditions, for example, temperature sensors, humidity sensors, and optical sensors for measuring an amount sunlight shining on a surface. Sensors 114 may include sensors corresponding to the execution of a print job and / or the operation of surface printer 100. For example, sensors 114 may include counters for indicating how long surface printer 100 has been in a particular operating state and / or how much of a printing material has been deposited. Sensors 114 may further include image capturing sensors, for example, digital cameras, for scanning printed images. Calibration system 1 18 may provide calibration for a printing process. For example, calibration system 118 may cause settings of printing system 112 to beadjusted based on, for example, surface properties, printing material properties, environmental conditions, and the like.

[0033] In one example, surface printer 100 may print a test pattern to a surface and the test pattern may be evaluated to assess if a printhead is in a state where it is not printing in an optimal manner. For example, in the example where a printhead includes 32 rows of nozzles, a test pattern may include 32 lines of drops, where each line of drops has a pattern which can be used to evaluate whether a particular nozzle is firing properly. For example, a line of drops may include a portion including consecutive drops according to a first firing setting, a portion where drops are not fired, and a portion including consecutive drops according to a second firing setting. The printed test pattern can be compared to an image of a test pattern (e.g., a printout or a digital image of the test pattern) to assess if any of the nozzles are not operating properly. Depending on the drop size, in some cases, the comparison can be done by a user with or without visual assistance. Further, in some cases, an image of the printed test pattern may be captured by a camera, for example, an image capturing camera of surface printer 100, and comparisons may be performed using image processing techniques. In some cases, the printing of a test pattern in itself may be considered a servicing routine. Further, in some examples, a test pattern may include a spit bar portion, where spitting is performed, which may recover nozzles.

[0034] In one example, in response to a printhead being in a condition where it is not printing in an optimal manner, a user may trigger the appropriate servicing routine. For example, an ink burst to refresh the nozzles may be triggered and / or a user may manually wipe the printhead to remove debris that could be blocking some of the nozzles. However, performing these user corrective operations may be time consuming and could significantly impact productivity. For example, a user may not presently be on site to manually wipe the printhead and the time it takes for the user to arrive on site may cause significant delays. In some cases, the expectation may be that a test pattern is printed and evaluated at the beginning and / or end of each workday and a user manually performs the appropriate servicing at that time. However, there may be applications (e.g., high quality print jobs) where daily servicing by user intervention is not adequate tomaintain acceptable print quality. Further, in some cases, it may be desirable for a surface printer to operate for an extended time period without servicing via manual user intervention. For example, a user may expect a surface printer to operate for an extended workday (e.g., over 12 hours) without any manual servicing.

[0035] According to the example techniques described herein, in some examples, servicing may be performed with minimal user intervention and at various types of job sites. In one example, for a particular job site, servicing areas may be defined. As described above, printing of a test pattern may be considered a servicing routine, and a test pattern may include a spit bar portion. Various spitting routines may be used to refresh nozzles. There may be areas of a job site where it is undesirable to perform a spitting (or similar) routine. For example, printing material deposited by performing a spitting routine (or printing a test pattern) may interfere with a print job. For example, ink deposited during a spitting routing may obstruct a printed line.

[0036] As described above, in one example, an input file comprising digital data associated with a floor plan may be parsed in layers by surface printer 100 or an external computing device. FIGS. 2A-2C are conceptual drawings illustrating layers corresponding to a print job according to an example. FIG. 2A illustrates an example of an obstacle layer of a print job. That is, in the example of FIG. 2A, the obstacle layer includes physical obstacles corresponding to the job site, i.e., walls and pillars. FIG. 2B illustrates an example of a print layer of a print job. That is, in the example of FIG. 2B, the layer includes lines to be printed by surface printer 100. FIG. 2C illustrates the overall print job, that is, the obstacle layer and the print layer. The example illustrated in FIGS. 2A-2C may correspond to an example where parking spots are to be printed in a parking garage. In some cases, the lines printed according to the print job may be intended to be permanent. Further, in other cases, the lines printed according to the print job may be intended to provide guidelines, i.e., permanent paint may be applied over the printed lines. In either case, a line printed as part of a servicing routine could erroneously result in a permanent line being applied to the surface.

[0037] In one example, service areas may be defined in a service area layer. That is, in one example, an input file providing a digital representation of a job site may include a service area layer. FIGS. 3A-3B are conceptual drawings illustrating layers corresponding to a print job according to an example. FIGS. 3A- 3B illustrate an example where service areas, i.e. , Area 1 and Area 2, are added to the print job illustrated in the example of FIGS. 2A-2C. FIG. 3A illustrates a service area layer including Area 1 and Area 2. FIG. 3B illustrates the overall print job represented by the obstacle layer, the print layer, and the service area layer. As illustrated in FIG. 3B, the service areas are located a sufficient distance from lines to be printed and are further separated by walls in the obstacle layer. As described above, service areas may correspond to different types of servicing routines. As such, in one example, different types of servicing routines may be performed at Area 1 and / or Area 2. In other examples, more or fewer service areas may be included in a service area layer.

[0038] In one example, a user may draw service areas (e.g., by manipulating an input file using an editing application) and define types of servicing routines corresponding to service areas. In other examples, a user may create a service area layer by entering parameters defining requirements for service areas. For example, in one example, for different types of servicing routines, a user may define a minimum size of a service area, minimum distances of the service areas from elements in a print job, and / or minimum distances of service areas relative to obstacles, etc. Areas of a job site meeting the requirements of the parameters may be defined as service areas in a service area layer.

[0039] In some examples, services areas are received by a surface printer prior to the initiation of a print job. For example, as described above, service areas may be included in a service area layer of an input file. In some examples, this input file may be received by surface printer 100 prior to the initiation of a print job. As described above, surface printer 100 includes communications system 120 which enables surface printer 100 to communicate with an external computing device. In some examples, surface printer 100 may receive locations of service areas during the execution of a print job. That is, as described in further detail below,surface printer 100 may request a location of a service area for performing a service routine.

[0040] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating performing servicing according to an example. Referring to FIG. 4, The entirety, or aspects thereof, of process 400 may be performed by surface printer 100. For example, aspects of process 400 may be performed by processor 102 and / or other components of surface printer 100. Further, in one example, aspects of process 400 may be performed by an external computing device in communication with a surface printer. For example, in one example, an external computing device may select a service area and send an indication of the selected service area to surface printer 100.

[0041] At 402, surface printer 100 performs a print job. That is, for example, at 402, surface printer 100 may be in the process of executing a print job by depositing printing fluid to a surface in accordance with a print layer. At 404, a serving event may be identified. That is, if a servicing event is identified, process 400 may proceed to 406 where the print job is paused. If a servicing event is not identified surface printer 100 may continue performing of a print job. There may be several ways in which a servicing event may be identified. In one example, surface printer 100 may receive an indication from an external computing device that a servicing routine is to be performed. In other examples, surface printer 100 may identify that a serving routine is to be performed.

[0042] As described above, in some examples, sensors 114 of surface printer 100 may include counters for indicating how long surface printer 100 has been in a particular operating state and / or how much of a printing material has been deposited. In one example, counters may be used to identify a servicing event. For example, a servicing event may be triggered based on: time elapsed, various operating times, distance printed, nozzle usage, printing material usage, etc. Triggers may correspond to a counter exceeding a threshold or a counter expiring. For example, a servicing event may be triggered, if surface printer 100 has been executing a print job for a set time (e.g., 10 minutes), in an operating state for a certain amount of time (e.g., 5 minutes of continuous printing time) and / or if surface printer 100 has printed a set distance (e.g., 10 meters) of lines (or used an equivalent amount of ink). In one example, triggers and / or thresholdsmay be based on or adjusted by various factors, including for example: type of ink, the printhead drop weights, various printhead settings, the ambient temperature and relative humidity, etc. For example, a servicing event may be triggered every 10 minutes of printing time, if the ambient temperature is under 75 degrees Fahrenheit and every 8 minutes, if the ambient temperature is over 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

[0043] After the print job is paused at 406, the status of the print job is saved at 408. That is, the current position of surface printer 100 as of the last printing position may be saved. The status may be saved locally at surface printer 100 and / or saved at an external computing device. At 410, a service area is selected. As described above, with respect to FIGS. 3A-3B, different types of servicing routines may be performed at different service areas. In one example, a service area may be selected based on the servicing routine to be performed. As further described above, a job site may include obstacles. That is, surface printer 100 will traverse obstacles while traveling to a service area. As such, the distance surface printer 100 travels to reach a service area may not correspond to the absolute distance to the service area. That is, in some cases, the path to a service area may not be a straight-line path.

[0044] In one example, routes to service areas may be calculated and a service area may be selected based on the calculated routes. FIG. 5 is a conceptual drawing illustrating routes to servicing areas according to an example. The example illustrated in FIG. 5 corresponds to the example job site described above in FIGS. 2A-3B. FIG. 5 shows the position of surface printer 100 (marked as X) at the time a print job is paused. FIG. 5 further illustrates the calculated routes to Area 1 and Area 2, indicated as R1 and R2 (i.e., route 1 and route 2). As illustrated in FIG. 5, although Area 2 is closer to surface printer 100 in terms of absolute distance, R1 is shorter than R2. Thus, in some examples, according to the techniques herein, Area 1 may be selected based on the associated calculated route being shorter.

[0045] Selecting a service area with the shortest route may provide considerable time savings. For example, if an example print job includes 3 hours of printing time with servicing every 10 minutes, the total number of servicingperformed will be 14. If the round-trip travel time to service areas is reduced by 2 minutes by selecting the shortest route for each servicing, the print job may be completed 28 minutes sooner. This may allow for more print jobs to be completed during a workday.

[0046] As described above, in some examples, surface printer 100 may request a location of a service area for performing a servicing routine. That is, for example surface printer 100 may pause a print job and request a service area location from an external computing device. For example, an external computing device may calculate routes and provide an indication of a selected service area based on the shortest route (or a route being sufficiently short). An external computing device may provide an indication of a service area selected based on a type of servicing routine. Further, in some examples, an external computing device may provide a location to perform servicing which, for example, may be based on the location being a sufficient distance from the print job.

[0047] Referring again to FIG. 4, at 412 surface printer 100 travels to the selected service area. At 414, surface printer 100 performs servicing. For example, surface printer 100 may perform any of the servicing routines provided above and / or additional servicing routines. For example, surface printer 100 may print a test pattern, scan and evaluate the printed test pattern and perform additional servicing routines and / or calibration routines based on the evaluation. For example, surface printer 100 may or may not perform a spitting routine based on the evaluation. As described above, different servicing routines may be performed at different service areas. In one example, if the evaluation indicates that a servicing routine to be performed should be performed at another service area, the surface printer 100 may travel to the other service area to perform the servicing routine.

[0048] After servicing and / or calibration routines are performed, surface printer 100 loads the saved print job status 416 and proceeds to perform the print job. That is, surface printer 100 travels to the location where it paused printing and resumes performing the print job.

[0049] Figure 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer program product 600. In some examples, as shown in Figure 6, computer program product600 includes a machine readable storage 602 that may also include computer readable instructions 604. In some implementations, the machine readable storage 602 may be implemented as a non-transitory machine readable storage. In an example, the computer readable instructions 604, may be executed by a processor 606, and implement aspects of process 400 (Figure 4), described above. That is, printing pipeline logic illustrated Figure 6 may include aspects of process 400 (Figure 4).

[0050] In this manner, according to the techniques herein servicing of a surface printer may be performed with minimal user intervention and at various types of job sites.

[0051] In this manner, according to the techniques herein, surface printer 100 and / or an external computing device may identify at least one service area at the job site, select one of the at least one service area, cause the surface printer to travel to the selected service area, and cause the surface printer to perform servicing at the selected service area.

[0052] In this manner, according to the techniques herein, surface printer 100 and / or an external computing device may identify a servicing event, and upon identifying the servicing event, control a surface printerto: pause a print job, select a service area, travel to the selected service area, and perform servicing at the selected service area.

[0053] In this manner, according to the techniques herein, surface printer 100 may comprising a processor to: identify a servicing event, and select one of the at least one service area, a motion control system to: control the surface printer to travel to the selected service area, and a printing system to: control the surface printer to perform servicing at the selected service area.

[0054] In some implementations, computer readable instructions 604 may include transistor array and / or other integrated circuit / IC components. For example, configurable logic and / or fixed-functionality hardware logic implementations of the computer readable instructions 604 may include configurable computer readable instructions such as, for example, programmable logic arrays (PLAs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), or fixed-functionality computer readableinstructions (e.g., hardware) using circuit technology such as, for example, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) or transistor-transistor logic (TTL) technology, the like, and / or combinations thereof.

[0055] All definitions, as defined and used herein, should be understood to control over dictionary definitions, definitions in documents incorporated by reference, and / or ordinary meanings of the defined terms.

[0056] Furthermore, for ease of understanding, certain functional blocks may have been delineated as separate blocks; however, these separately delineated blocks should not necessarily be construed as being in the order as discussed or otherwise presented herein. For example, some blocks may be able to be performed in an alternative ordering, simultaneously, etc.

[0057] Although a number of illustrative examples are described herein, it should be understood that numerous other modifications and examples can be devised that will fall within the spirit and scope of the principles of the foregoing disclosure. More particularly, reasonable variations and modifications are possible in the component parts and / or arrangements of the subject combination arrangement within the scope of the foregoing disclosure, the drawings and the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the foregoing disclosure. In addition to variations and modifications in the component parts and / or arrangements, alternative uses will also be apparent. The examples may be combined to form additional examples.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A method of performing servicing for a surface printer at a job site, comprising: identifying at least one service area at the job site; selecting one of the at least one service area; causing the surface printer to travel to the selected service area; and causing the surface printer to perform servicing at the selected service area.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the identifying at least one service area includes identifying the at least one service area from a digital representation of the job site.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the digital representation includes a layer and the layer includes the at least one service area.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the at least one service area includes a first service area corresponding to a first servicing routine and a second service area corresponding to a servicing routine.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the identifying at least one service area includes receiving a location of the at least one service area.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the selecting one of the at least one service area includes selecting a service area based on a shortest route to one of the at least one service area.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the performing servicing at the selected service area includes performing spitting.

8. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause one or more processors of a device to: identify a servicing event; and upon identifying the servicing event, control a surface printer to: pause a print job, select a service area, travel to the selected service area, and perform servicing at the selected service area.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the servicing event is identified based on a counter.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the counter corresponds to one of: ink used, time elapsed, nozzle usage, and a combination of at least two of the above.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the selecting a service area includes identifying at least one service area and selecting one of the at least one service area based on a route from a location of the surface printer to a location of the at least one service area.

12. A surface printer comprising: a processor to: identify a servicing event, and select one of the at least one service area; a motion control system to: control the surface printer to travel to the selected service area; and a printing system to: control the surface printer to perform servicing at the selected service area.

13. The surface printer of claim 12, wherein identifying at least one service area includes identifying at least one service area from a digital representation of the job site.

14. The surface printer of claim 12, wherein the selecting one of the at least one service area includes selecting a service area based on a shortest route to one of the at least one service area.

15. The surface printer of claim 12, wherein the performing servicing at the selected service area includes printing a test pattern.

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